Mountain Lake

One of the restoration sites I manage in the Presidio is the replanted native vegetation surrounding Mountain Lake. The lake has a rich historical timeline, which continues today. Prior to Spanish settlement, attributed to the Juan Bautista de Anza party in 1776, it sat as a lake surrounded by sand. Most of the western, low-lying lands of San Francisco were sand dunes. The lake might have looked something like a larger version of the one in this picture. It was probably a low point in the topography filled by groundwater that percolated to the surface. 

Many times I have wished that somehow it could be possible to be transported back to this time to have seen and experienced it. I don't know what the afterlife means or will be, but some kind of heaven, for me, would be to see all the restoration sites where I have worked in their ancient states. It would be enlightening and surprising -- maybe even amusing, in light of what I know today -- to observe plants and wildlife while having sand blast my face as I walked through the Richmond District. 

Today the lake is much different, mainly owing to its location directly adjacent to Highway 1 and construction projects that have altered the lake; also owing to the golf course that neighbors it.  On all sides, the lake is encroached by development of sorts, but the future does hold promise for its health.

Woven Fence at South Shore Bench, Mountain Lake, Presidio, 2012.

Above is a picture of a bench on the south shoreline with a fence in front that I made with the help of our seasonal restoration technicians. The vertical posts are willow branches, a few of which should remain alive as roots sprout from them to find water in the ground; the horizontal woven branches are mostly cuttings from sycamores that are cut yearly in a process called pollarding. We did this as part of a few work days committed to sprucing up the public areas of the site in anticipation of public informative walks there. The walks will probably continue in the future as the public is informed of the latest status of the planned remediation of the lake. Not much official information exists online at this time, but should once the project reaches the public comment period. Here's a blog post pertaining to it.

The implementation of the enhancement plan is where I hope to get involved in the future. This, provided funds come through, will hopefully make the lake more of a functioning ecosystem and get it back on track to where it's thought it would have been without urbanization.